Harry Potter and the American Prankster
by misfitnumber
Summary: What happens when a girl from the United States to Hogwarts? Can she cheer Harry up? Or will she have enough problems to be getting on with?
1. charlie

Chapter 1

To you, leaving the school was a big deal. Now, you had to deal with not only that, but with leaving the country. On top of it all, you were having family troubles. First it was just the occasional disagreement. Then, you could tell they were keeping something from you. Also, they were being totally unreasonable with their protectiveness. It was disgusting.

You and your family were moving to England. At one time you would have jumped at the chance to visit there but this was different, you were moving there, permanently. In addition, you were now supposedly going to a boarding school, Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. You could just tell from the dorky name that it was nothing compared to your old school. But you had yet to go so you couldn't talk. Yet.

Actually, you would be starting today. You had already missed the first day so you would come in on October 31. Great, you thought, it was gonna be hard enough to come in late but on Halloween? They were probably gonna think you were a huge joke. Oh well, you thought bitterly.

So that's how you ended up on the Hogwarts Express, alone and bored, staring out the window. It was supposedly only and hour to arrival time and boy how you were looking forward to it.

The train stopped in a soggy and dark station and out side there stood a miniature giant waiting with a huge smile on his face. You already knew him however. He was Hagrid, your uncle. His dad's brother was your dad so he often came to visit you during the summer. After lugging your huge trunk off the train you ran to give Hagrid a giant sized hug (a/n lol).

"How ya doin' Charlie?" Hagrid asked after you pulled away.

"Great, but kinda nervous actually," you replied.

"YOU, nervous! You've got to be kidding me. The world must be coming to an end," he said chuckling.

"Ha, ha, very funny, highly amusing" you said in a mock bored voice.

"Well, I best be getting ya up to the feast before those poor, poor kids go starving, meaning Ron Weasley," He said, guiding you to a carriage with a funny looking animal in tow. Odd, you thought.

"Who's Ron Weasely?" you asked, trying to learn some of the students Hagrid always talked about.

"I've told you about him before haven't I?" asked an incredulous Hagrid as he entered the buggy.

"Umm, you probably have but I probably forgot, like I always do," you said jokingly.

"Well, he's best friends with these two kids in my class, Harry and Hermione Granger, who I asked Proffessor McGonagoll to help you around at first. She's real nice and real smart. She'll get you on your feet in no time, trust me," Hagrid explained.

"Oh, ok. I think I remember you saying something about her," you said as you neared the front of the magnificent castle.

In the doorway stood a woman with long green robes and a neat bun.

"Hello, Hagrid. No trouble I presume?" said the woman.

"None at all, Professor McGonagoll," replied Hagrid.

"Good. If you would please follow me, Ms. Tudor, I will show you to the headmaster's office so he may explain a few things to you before going down to the feast," With that she marched off, up the stairs, with you following behind her.

"Bye, Hagrid," you said and waved.

Hagrid waved back and enter through the large oak doors.

You had to keep a good pace to keep up with her but in the end you made safely to a large statue of what you saw to be a phoenix, where she abruptly stopped.

"Skittles," she said with disapproval and the statue began revolving to reveal a stairwell in its place. The professor knocked sharply on a magnificent doorway and was welcomed in.

" Well, well, Ms. Charlie I presume? Come, sit down, we have a few things to discuss," You took your seat as McGonagoll was leaving the room and turned and waited politely for the headmaster to speak. "Welcome to Hogwarts, firstly. I am your Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, and I will be here in any way to assist you. It is a pleasure to have you here. On many occasions has our Hagrid talked of you. It's great to finally meet in person. Secondly, we must decide which house you are to belong to. See, in Hogwarts, we have a system I which you are assigned to one of the four houses that will be incorporated in your schedule and where you will have your dorm. The four houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Each has special traits attributed to each according to the founder, though I am sure Ms. Granger, who is also a sixth year herself, will brief you on that once you have settled in. Now, to decide which house you will be in, I ask you to try on this hat and it will discern your characteristics and place you in one of these houses." Dumbledore got up and walked over to a glass cabinet and retrieved from it a rather beaten looking hat. He carefully picked it up, wandered back over to you, and placed it on your head.

"Well, well, this could be interesting. Let's see… I see here you were quite independent at your old school…never let anybody push you around, that's good…a trouble maker but definitely not without good fun involved…well, I think its unanimous (well of course it is because I'm the only one deciding, but anyway) yes I think you would be great in… GRYFFINDOR!"

You composed yourself from the slight shock of a talking hat that could dig through your mind and glanced up at the headmaster who was smiling down at you.

"Ah, yes, Hagrid was right in saying you would be a Gryffindor! Good, good, because Ms. Granger is also in your house. Well, now that we have that sorted out, I will leave Ms. Granger to explain the rest while we head down to the feast where undoubtedly the students and staff will be waiting hungrily for their Halloween feast. I'm afraid if we don't hurry, they shall start a riot for, see, I am the only one who can commence these feasts," he added with a wink. It was impossible not to smile back at this headmaster for he had a most positive attitude.

The headmaster and you walked down to the Great Hall and along the way he informed you upon many of the portraits and secret passageways that not even these twins he mentioned knew about. It was a very amusing walk until you came upon the doors that Hagrid disappeared behind and the ones that large amounts of noise could be heard coming from.

Dumbledore stopped and turned to you. "Charlie, I will walk in and show you to Ms. Granger, and I will inform her on the situation and I am sure she will welcome you to sit down with her. I also must advise you to not look so nervous, for the trait of the Gryffindor house is that all the occupants are very brave," He said, with another wink.

Dumbledore then threw the doors wide and revealed a magnificent room filled hundreds of, now, silent students. At the ceiling there was, in its place, an exact replica of the night sky. Hanging from the seemingly endless ceiling were four banners over four large tables, that you assumed were the four house tables. Dumbledore kindly took your arm and led you to the tables on the far side and walked up to a girl about your age with brown hair and brown eyes. She was looking at you with a curious but then knowing stare.

"Ms. Granger, I believe Professor McGonagoll informed you that there would be a new student this year that she hoped you would care to guide for the first week or two? Allow me to introduce Charlie Tudor, the exchange student from the United States."

Hermione stood up and shook your hand. "Hi, its nice to meet you. I'm Hermione Granger. Hagrid has told us a lot about you," she said with a smile.

Aware that you were being watched, you returned her smile and said hello while the headmaster left to take up his seat at the front table.

"Just one announcement before we begin our most excellent feast, this year we are proud to welcome Charlie Tudor from the United States who will be staying with us for the duration of her education. Please make her welcome and assist her in any way. With that said, please, enjoy yourselves." There was a collective muttering while everyone turned around to begin.

At your table, Hermione pointed out the two boys sitting across from you. "Charlie, these are my best friends, Ron Weasely, with the red hair, and Harry Potter with the black hair." They smiled and said a brief hello and hey and turned to their meals. Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes at this and said, "Don't worry, they're not much talkers. So, what brings you to Hogwarts?"

"Well, my parents mainly. They grew up here and when they received an offer in the Ministry they decided it would be nice to move back. Plus, with Hagrid here they thought it might be good for me to switch schools."

"Trust me, it'll be fun here, though from what I hear from Hagrid you could make fun from wherever."

This got some interaction from the quietly listening boys across the table. "Did you really hijack the school's flying carpet to drop water balloons on the principal's head!"

"Can you really play quidditch with the pro's!"

You burst out laughing because you now had caught sight of the mess that was Ron's plate.

"Hagrid said…you had…an…appetite!" you barely managed to get out, pointing at Ron's plate.

"Hagrid!" Ron mocked and shook his fist at the on looking Hagrid.

After you calmed yourself, you answered their questions. "Yes, I did hijack the school's flying carpet but the balloons were filled with fish oil and I only played quidditch as a reserve chaser on the American team," you answered with a slight smile.

"Where have you been all my life!" asked a redheaded guy sitting next to you, oddly enough with his twin on the other side.

"Fred or George Weasely, who are the reigning champion pranksters at Hogwarts and also happen to be on the Gryffindor quidditch. Actually, they pulled off quite a fear last year when they left the school in protest of the new headmaster," explained Hermione.

"Dumbledore?"

"No, this one woman who had him kicked out but he's back this year, just like these two, though I can't say they were welcomed back quite like Dumbledore was with the teachers."

"It's not our fault that they _have_ to enforce the rules," said one of the twins.

"Yes, well, I may have to fight you for the title, sirs, and trust me, you have not heard half of it, mainly cause I don trust Hagrid with that kind of information," you said with a mischievous grin on your face.

"Uh-oh, you might want to watch what you say with this one. She's a prefect and they can hand out detention," said Ron as he jerked a finger towards Hermione.

"Ron! You are a prefect too, you know!" admonished Hermione.

"Yes, but I only give them out to Malfoy!" he retorted.

"They're always like this, but we think its because they like each other," whispered George or Fred in your ear.

You couldn't help but notice that the one called Harry was staring at you so you smiled and that seemed to whack him back into reality. He blushed and turned to look at the bickering pair.

"What about Harry over there, he's hardly said a word, what's he like?" you asked George.

"He's a hard one to explain though we'll swap your answers for some of these so-called notorious pranks in the common room tonight," he offered.

"It's a deal," you answered as George turned to inform his counterpart.

Dinner went along the same lines until the headmaster stood to dismiss the school. You immediately sought out Hermione in the crowds and she guided you up many floors and staircases to a large portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress. Hermione explained, as she said the password "Holmes and Watson", that the entrance was hidden behind the portrait and that you had to say the password to get inside.

The common room was a comfortable looking hang out to say the least. Couches and cushy armchairs littered the area in front of the roaring fire. Your first thought was to run and jump on them but then you realized that would be kind of awkward for your first day. All right then, you thought, I'll just have to save that for tomorrow!

"Well, Charlie, I'm gonna go get some sleep. Are you coming up?" asked Hermione.

"Umm, no I think I'll stay down here for a little while, thanks," you said with a conspiratorial wink to Fred and George.

"Hmm, okay then, ask me if you need anything. And Fred and George, I can make you pay for anything that you do for our new exchange student here," Hermione declared with a growl.

"Yes, ma'am," the twins said in unison with a jaunty salute. Hermione rolled her eyes before disappearing up a staircase.

"Well, on with merriments, shall we?" asked on of the twins.

"We shall."

"First, we want to know how you got out of being expelled with the water balloon trick, then we shall tell you anything you want!"

"Ahh, this was a simple question! Don't get caught! Just kidding! All I had to do was make sure he didn't see me from above him, so I enchanted the balloons to come from the side instead of above, therefore he would not suspect an attack from sky and I had better marksmanship," you dictated with the air of a master of the craft. "He was such a blubbering fool, dancing around on the spot trying to see who throwing them, hahaha!" you burst out, ditching the all-knowing air.

"Well, I go to hand it to you…"

"We would have never thought of that…"

"So the only logical thing to do…"

"Would be…"

"To…"

"INITIATE YOU INTO THE WEASELY TROUBLE-MAKING TRIAD!"

"Hey I didn't get that big of a part…"

"Sorry about that…you can do the rest…"

"Thank you. Anyways, what we need is a brilliant mind like yourself to make our master plans complete.

"So how 'bout it?"

"Join us?"

"Ah, what the heck, sure."

"Great! Now as part of your initiation…"

"You must…"

"Try out…"

"One of our many dangerous substances…"

"Choose whatever you please!" the twins implored, holding out an array of foreboding candies arranged in the form of a chocolate box. You timidly took the black one shaped in a square. You put them it in your mouth and gently chewed down, and finally swallowed. You immediately felt something cold run through your body and you shivered. But then you felt an entirely new sensation come over you. You felt you muscles stretching and your skin grow warmer. Two seconds later and you found yourself on all fours, staring up at the twins, wondering what they had done to you. While they were looking at you in shock, you turned to the mirror and saw a large, black panther in your place. You now realized what it was the candy did, it turned you into an animal! And a beautiful one at that. You turned in circles to yourself and then looked back up at the twins. They had gotten over the shock and were grinning happily at you. That is till you decided to scare them a bit and roared, showing your massive teeth. This got them. They tumbled over the back of the couch and stared at you in horror as you easily cleared to the couch and playfully jogged after them, around the common room. You did this for a few moments until you felt yourself turning back and when you did, you saw, to your shock, that you were, in fact, being watched by the entire Gryffindor house. Once in your old self again, you broke down laughing hysterically.

"You, you…you should have seen…your faces…it was hilarious!"

The twins stood staring at you in mock hate until their humor bone got the better of them and they too broke down laughing.

"Got you…with your…own…trick!"

The common room started grumbling angrily and went back upstairs, but you were sure you saw Harry wearing an amused smile on his face. You and the twins finally managed to control your breathing and just smiled.

"Told you she was good," said Fred to George.

"Hey I said that!" said George indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Fred muttered back.

"Ok, moving on, you two have to hold up your part of the bargain!" you berated them.

"All righty then…"

"But its gonna be awhile…"

"So get comfy."

"Well, it starts when he was about one or two and there was this bad guy named Lord Voldemort after his family. They went into hiding but Lord Voldemort found them anyways because their best friend betrayed them. He came to their house one night and he finished off his mom and his dad. When he finally raised his wand to kill Harry, it rebounded on him and Voldemort was nearly killed. Almost, but not really. So instead, Harry got this lightening bolt shaped scar on his head and a load of people calling him a hero because they thought he was gone forever. See, Voldemort killed lots of people and they all thought he was unbeatable so they were really relieved at his supposed death. Poor Harry, though, was forced to live with his stupid muggle relatives. They were really mean to him; starved him, locked him up in cupboards, and sometimes they hit him and made him do all the chores. God, I hate them Dursley's!"

"Ok, you're talking too much, my turn. So basically, the world didn't hear from him for about nine or ten years until it was time for him to go off to Hogwarts. The funny thing was, the damn Dursley's didn't tell him anything about his parents or what they were, so he was kind of shocked when all these letters (especially when he never got any) came for him but the muggles wouldn't let him read. It was so funny; they ran around the country like they had their heads chopped off to avoid the letters. But your dear ol' Hagrid tracked em' down to this miserable shack on an island and about scared the wits out of them. Imagine, your uncle, standing up to some people who had never even seen a man that size! Yeah, so he took Harry to Diagon Alley and finally got him off to Hogwarts. Course' he couldn't find his way on to the platform so us Weasley's helped him. Yeah, and on the train he met our brother, Ron, you know him, and they became best friends."

"Touching, this is," added Fred, while wiping away an imaginary tear.

"Yeah, yeah, just tell the story already," George replied grumpily.

"Jeez, someone is grumpy. Well, anyway, needless to say, Harry and Ron made it into Gryffindor and school began. Your probably wondering how Hermione comes into this. Well, see Ron, being the git he is, decided to make Hermione cry so she stayed in the bathroom all day, even during the Halloween feast. Course this leads to disaster. Professor Quirrel decides to come into the Great Hall screaming about this mad troll loose in the dungeon so all the kids start screaming, except yours truly," you make a sound of disbelief. "Hey! I didn't, George, did but I didn't. Anyways, this is besides the point. So Dumbledore tells us to go up to the dormitories. Harry and Ron, halfway to the dorms, were suddenly struck with thought, Hermione was still in the bathroom and she didn't know about the troll. Being the smart boys they were, they decided they would go after Hermione instead of doing the logical thing of telling the teachers about Hermione's situation. On, the gallant way off to rescue the endangered Hermione, they somehow managed to lock her in with the Troll. Course they didn't notice until she started screaming. So they went in after her and came out with a shaken Hermione, charmly-improved Ron, and Harry with his wand covered in Troll boogers. So they naturally became friends."

At this you burst out laughing.

"What! It's the truth!"

"Whatever, just go on."

"Thank you. Well, as I was saying, they became friends. Somehow, later that year, they unraveled a plot involving Lord Voldemort and Professor Quirrel and this thing that could make gold and give you immortality called the Sorcerers Stone. Now, I'll have you know, these three have something about putting their necks on the line and getting into trouble. Well, Dumbledore had hidden the Sorcerer's Stone in the castle and Voldemort wanted it. Apparently, Voldemort had taken over Quirrel's body and he was trying to get it. They had to go through what you might call an obstacle course to get to the stone but Ron got hurt so Hermione went for help while Harry dear decided to go on. He came across Quirrel and somehow he managed to get the stone and kill Quirrel. Harry may have had to spend about a week in the hospital wing but that was it. No one really knows what happened except Harry, Ron and Hermione, and Dumbledore," finished Fred.

"Wait, you forgot Quidditch. See Harry must have impressed Professor McGonagoll somehow but she accepted him onto the team without even a try-out and he didn't even know how to play cause he was raised by muggles. Yeah, well he was bloody brilliant and he never missed the snitch except in third year but that wasn't even his fault," explained George.

"Come on, we're taking too long. We'll never get to sleep at this rate," said Fred.

"Fine, you do it," grumbled George.

"Oh, I will, and I'll do it better! Anyways, in second year Potter saved our sister Ginny from a basilisk that was petrifying everyone. This had happened like fifty years back and everyone thought it was Hagrid's spider so he was expelled. By killing the basilisk, Harry cleared Hagrid of those charges. Then, in third year, Harry was supposedly being hunted by his godfather, named Sirius. Sirius was one of his parents' best friends and everybody thought he was the one who turned his parents over to Voldemort when it was actually another friend of theirs named Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was in Azkaban, the wizard prison here, for thirteen years until he escaped, which was thought impossible. Sirius could turn into a dog as his animagus so he tried to convince Harry that he really didn't kill his parents by dragging Ron through this tree that led to the Shrieking Shack, where the Potters' other best friend came when he needed to change because he was a werewolf. See, Peter Pettigrew could turn into a rat and he was the pet of Ron but when they cleared it all up, Pettigrew, that rat, got away so they couldn't clear Sirius and he was forced to go back into hiding. Fourth year was a doozy. First, there was an attack at the Quidditch World Cup and then Harry mysteriously got entered into the Triwizard Tournament when he was underaged and he was forced to compete. One of the competitors was killed and he was nearly killed when the cup that they were attempting to claim turned into a portkey, and they were met by Voldemort. Cedric, his running mate, was killed and they used Harry to give voldemort his body back. Harry barely managed to escape and he was feeling very guilty about Cedrics death so he wouldn't talk to anyone. That summer, though, he was attacked by dementors, and he came to…never mind…and he was all mad because no one could tell hi what was going on. He was like that all year. Around Christmas though, he had a dream though that our Dad was attacked and he saved him by telling Dumbledore about it. He was really distant after that. The biggest problem for him that year was that he had this dream about his Godfather being tortured by Voldemort and he thought it was real like the one with our dad so he went after him but found out it wasn't real and the Death Eaters, Voldemort's group, attacked him and a bunch of people came to help him but his Godfather was killed. We know he thinks it was his fault but we know it wasn't. Now he never really talks up much, so if you can do anything about, I urge you to," he concluded.

"Though I think Mr.Potter has taken an interest in young Miss Charlie judging by the way he was staring at dinner," George added sneerily with a conspiratorial wink towards Fred. Fred chuckled and tapped his finger while grinning a Cheshire-cat grin.

"What! No, he was not, why would you think that!" you exclaimed.

"Do you really need us to answer that?"

"Hurumph, I'm going to bed. You best berrate yourselves because I have no energy," you replied, trying to escape the situation.

"Sure, sure. You go on to bed now, and make sure you get your beauty rest for Harry."

"URGH!"

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight"

Chapter 2

It was odd, the first morning. Waking up in a foreign, yet comfy, bed was slightly unnerving before you finally pieced together where you were. You stretched and stood up on your bed, threw open your crimson curtains, and screamed a "GOOD MORNING!" to your bunkmates. The five other girls in your dorms jumped from their slumber and you gave a hearty laugh before you were attacked by flying pillows. Now such attack, in your book, did not _ever_ go without reciprocation. Such events led to a fully-fledged pillow fight within the dorm room. You all laugh and screamed with amusement as each of you took a hit and, after a considerable amount of time, collapsed upon your bed. Your early morning skirmish must have attracted a suspicious crowd who, at the cease of cries coming from the room, must have assumed the worst and fled to your room. Into the room, burst Harry and Ron on their brooms, having found a way around the obstacle of crumpling staircases, with eager faces. They apparently weren't, however, expecting a room littered with pillow feathers.

"What happened here?" Ron demanded as you all burst out laughing.

"Charlie…hehe…she started…it," Hermione accused while clutching her stomach.

"Hey, you didn't have to throw pillows at me, you were just asking for trouble," you defended with a large smile on your face.

"Right, right," Lavender exclaimed.

"Girls!" Harry and Ron muttered in unison.

"We HEARD that!" you admonished, before running after them, pillow in hand.

"Ahh!" they yelled.

"You wouldn't…," Ron sneered with an anxious look in his eye.

"Oh, but you underestimate me now don't you?" you reply with a maniac glint in your eye.

Harry merely stared with an amused look on his face. At least until she smacked him with a hard blow and followed through with a hit for Ron before closing the door in their faces, which in turn caused them to step back on a staircase that immediately transformed into a slide.

"HEY!"

You turned back to the members of your dorm and, yet again, burst out laughing. You all, after regaining your breath, began getting ready for another day. Since today was a weekend you didn't have classes yet, which you were thankful for, as you still needed to find your way about the classroom. You finished quickly and traipsed down to the common room to converse before everyone went to breakfast.

"Charlie!" the twins called to you.

"Well, were proud of you," the remarked as you came up to them.

"What are you so pouOUUUUUU, PUT ME DOWN!" you screamed as Fred proceeded to pick you up, throw you over his shoulder, and walk out the portrait. You growled with a 'hurumph', knowing they wouldn't put you down.

"Well, I'll tell you what we're so proud about; you managed to crack a smile on Harry dear. That little stunt you pulled this morning worked! He came into common room looking amused about something which is more than many can say. Therefore, we place you in charge of "Cracking Harry" as you may put it," George said with a smile.

"Righty then," you said with a vague look of confusion on your face.

You and the boys arrived at the Great Hall without further mishap or conversation. You had assumed they would let you go before entering, but no, they had it in for you and your reputation.

"Fred you better put me down before you get yourself a hex to the butt!" you warned but they paid you no heed. Instead they changed the subject as the beginning s of chuckles could be heard among the Hall.

"Hey Fred, she can actually tell us apart! That even took mum about a few years to establish!" George exclaimed with a touch of reverence in his voice.

"Actually, its written right here, on your underpants!" And with this you reached over and grabbed Fred's undies and gave them a good tug before letting go. That got your feet on the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey, foul play. You can't do that! That was below the belt!" George disputed as Fred danced around on the spot, trying to relieve the, how shall we say, tension.

"All is fair in war and war," you said with a smirk as you skipped over to the Gryffindor table, next to Ron and Harry. "Hello, good morning, how are you?" you said with a jovial tone.

"Hardy, har, har. Very funny. Just because you got me and Harry once and the twins, does not mean you are queen of all that is good and funny," said Ron as Harry looked on with the same distant look that he had shown the night before.

"Just keep telling yourself that," you replied.

Breakfast was an enjoyable affair, especially after Hagrid noticed what the lump in his morning oatmeal was and proceeded to chase you out of the hall, threatening with a tickle fest. Not that he had evidence that it was you though. Hagrid, after negotiating pardon, decided to show you around the castle some, like to your classes and so forth. He had to leave you, however, when he suddenly remembered a scheduled meeting for all teachers in the headmaster's office and had to leave you. You wandered around a while more, not knowing where you were going, until you came upon a pack of voices, speaking in elevated tones.

"You should have at least considered I didn't want to tell her! Everybody knows who I am already, and I don't need any more attention!" a voice you recognized as Harry's yelled.

"Harry, mate, we didn't think it was that big of a deal, she was gonna find out anyways…," George tried to reason.

"That doesn't mean she needs to know right now! God, I was looking forward to someone getting to know who I really was instead of what they're told!" berated Harry.

This seemed like an ideal time for you to step on, considering you figured he was talking about how Fred and George had informed you on the past that Harry was trying desperately to hide.

"Harry, please don't be mad at them. I asked them cause I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal and I wanted to know a little more about everybody and you were the one who seemed kind of quiet. They didn't even go into that much detail, but I'm sorry for not asking you first," you reasoned. Harry gave you a softened look and visibly relaxed. He hung his head for a moment and then looked up at the twins.

"Sorry, about that, don't worry about it," he muttered and started to walk off.

You walked up timidly to the twins and said, "Sorry for getting in trouble. If I thought he would have been angry I wouldn't have asked."

"Nah, it wasn't your fault, we should have known better. He was sitting on the stairs when we were telling you. He is just sensitive about how so many people know about him but not the real him. It doesn't help that he thinks a lot of what happened is his fault. He and the other two have gotten into some bad scrapes before. He's almost died a few times. Basically, we should have asked him first. You got lucky though. He usually blows up at people, though it seems he's got a soft spot for you," Fred said with a nudge to George.

"When are you gonna give it up?" you muttered as you began to walk away from them.

"Oh, no, you are not going to get away that easy," Fred teased.

"Oh, yes, I am. Say, do you guys wanna play some quidditch?" you asked with a triumphant air.

"That was below the belt, you knew we couldn't turn down quidditch!" George growled.

"See, I told you could get away easy," you smirked and trampled off down the hallway, one that you finally recognized.

You and the twins ran down the pitch and summoned your brooms. It was easy enough, but your broom came back with someone's homework attached to it.

"Talk about a good excuse," Fred remarked as you banished it back to its owner, along with an apology for the hole, of course.

You hopped on the brooms and had a race. Lucky you, you won by a smidgeon, those guys knew how to fly. You had been flying for an hour when a group of people you recognized to be slytherins came into view at the top of the pitch.

"That one in the middle is Malfoy," George whispered as he pointed to a blond boy who seemed to be _very_ self-confident. "I would watch out for him, he's no good, except for pranks, I might add. Don't take any of his crap, okay?" George whispered as the slytherins mounted their brooms and flew up to meet them.

"Well, if it isn't our exchange student, lovely exchange student. Now what might you be doing out here with this riff-raff?" asked a sneering Malfoy.

"You made three mistakes in just one sentence. One, don't ever mess with me unless you that broom up a more uncomfortable place. Two, don't ever mess with my friends unless you would like it pushed up further. And three, you should know better than to mess with me, ever. So please, do me, myself, and your dignity a favor and get the hell outta here," you _explained _to them, wagging your hand in the opposite direction. The wimps standing in front of you basically just stood mouth open, so you decided to give them a little push. You changed quickly into your animagus form, while balancing on your broom, and roared loudly. The slytherins drew back in horror and nearly fell off their brooms but quickly regained control and flew to the ground.

After Fred and George recovered from the shock of seeing a beautiful large black panther where you once were, the said, "Charlie! They're gonna tell Dumbledore!"

"No, they're not, cause I am going to modify their memories," you said simply. With that, you raised your wand and performed the necessary charm. This stuff had always come easy to because it was almost essential in the line of work you did ever day at you school: pranking.

"Wow, you never told us you were an animagus!"

"You didn't ask and I was planning on not telling you so therefore I will have to perform a memory charm on you," You raised your wand but were stopped by a plea by one of the twins (you couldn't see their undies from this direction, hehe).

"Wait, if you are going to charm us, at least let us answer you some questions because we won't even be able to remember anyways," Fred asked with a hint of begging.

"Fine, fine, what do you want to know?"

"Umm, when _did_ you become a animagus?"

"Fourth year, next question."

"What is your one weakness?"

"Dementors, go on."

"Why did you transfer?"

"My dad was transferred."

"What is your absolute biggest fear?"

"Being alone."

"Do you like Harry?"

"Sure."

"That's no answer!"

"Fine, I like Harry, happy now?"

"Yes, you may wipe our memories now," George says with a smirk.

"Ugh, guys!" You let out an exasperated sigh and did the spell. You watched as the guys got a blank expression and then shook their heads to clear them, but then you sped off in towards the school to hide your blush. You didn't need something to defog their memories.

Chapter 3

You pondered over what had just happened on the pitch. It was odd. You needn't have said yes or no but you, being accommodation queen, had to answer their question. It wouldn't have been so bad if it did not mean that you had realized it for yourself. I mean, come on, you had only known him for a couple days apart from the stories Hagrid had told you.

You were headed to the tower. You were planning on seeing if you could drag Hermione away from her homework long enough for you to get a decent conversation. You found her, obviously, sitting on the common room, completing a charms essay you knew she had already finished but was only checking over and rewriting because it was one of the assignments given over the summer.

"Hermione! Come on I want to do something!" you exclaimed.

"Like what?" she asked, obviously wanting to dissuade you from distracting her.

"Like…oh! Girl talk! That would be fun right! Come on, I need to learn a little more about this crazy school," you pleaded.

"Alright, alright. What do you wanna talk about?" she asked with a resigned tone.

"First we need to go find a better place to have this little chat. I've already been caught once and gotten in trouble for and I don't want to do it again," you said.

"Oh yes, I heard, well there is this room called the room of requirement…," she started.

"Okay, I've heard enough. Off we go to this room of requirement to have girl talk," you interrupted before anyone heard of your plans.

Hermione led you out of the tower in the direction of the staircases. You merrily skipped through the halls while passerby stared with skeptic looks on their faces. Hermione was a little more than shocked.

"Charlie, may I ask, WHY IN THE HECK ARE YOU SKIPPING?" she half-exclaimed and half-inquired.

"To make people stare at me," you answered simply.

"And why would you want them to do that!"

"Because its fun to do. I'm known as the walking Mrs. Unpredictable but no one has ever met the non-walking Mrs. Unpredictable because she doesn't get around much."

"Oh," she answered meekly. Needless to say, she was still confused.

Hermione continued to lead you on until you came across an empty hallway. When there, she started pacing and you found _this_ weird.

"Umm, Hermione dear, I am new here and even I know that there is nothing there," you said uncertainly.

"No, no, no. You have to think about the room you want to find the room of requirement. Like, think of what you want in a girl's hangout and you'll see," she explained.

You had a cacophony of ideas just waiting to put into action with the use of this, shall we say, advantageous room, but you stuck to comfy couches, non-stop rock music playing on a radio, rhinestone tiaras, and chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate.

While you finished off the room with an imaginary disco ball, Hermione squealed (yes, squealed) and ran to the newly formed door. You were less than impressed with door, owing to the amount of thought you put into the room only to get a plain black door. However, when you first glimpsed the room, you could hardly contain your enthusiasm. It had nice burgundy walls with black couches by a roaring fire, topped off with an immense table filled with all the trimmings you had asked for, and more.

You surveyed the table and said to Hermione, "Well, well, I didn't know if you had it in you. The feathered boas were a nice touch." You lost the appraiser attitude and grinned at Hermione, before digging in to the chocolate! You had a severe craving for chocolate whenever you came within two miles of it.

"I also commend you on your taste," Hermione said, almost laughing.

"Why, thank you," you said with chocolate impairing your voice.

That did it. Hermione broke down in snickers and so began the first night out for the girls at Hogwarts.

No one knew what time they finally got out of there but it wasn't until at least a day after. Luckily, it was a weekend anyways, otherwise, they would have fallen asleep in class. They stumbled into the common room, giggling like mad, to a flustered Harry and Ron. Choruses of "Where were you!" and "What the hell were you doing!" met their ears as the boys furiously vented out their worry.

"Calm down, calm down, we were only out for a bit of a chat between us girls; we didn't mean to worry you, but you guys need to loosen up!" you explained with a hint of reprimanding in your voice.

"Calm down! Are you kidding me, you were out since yesterday without so much as a warning!" Ron said with his ears turning even more red. Harry just stood there, looking angry.

"Look, its not that big of a deal. We went out to talk and it ended up taking longer than we expected. No harm done," you said with a pacifying voice.

Harry just rolled his eyes and trudged up the stairs while Ron, attempting berate them a bit more, opened and closed his mouth for several minutes, before heading up the stairs also, muttering things like "no harm done, right" and slamming the door the dormitory. You looked at Hermione and said, "guys" and you both burst out laughing.

You both decided you would get your due sleep now that you had the chance and went up to the dormitory. You both found no reason to delay the sandman and fell asleep almost immediately.

You woke up at about five but Hermione was still asleep so you tiptoed down to the common room to find someone to talk to.

You got down there and you found Harry staring into the flames of the fireplace. You hopped over the back of the couch and plopped down next to him, with your lags crossed. He seemed shocked at first but then resumed his staring. You found this annoying because you had a low tolerance level for silence (a/n: lol Krysti) and decided to annoy him as payback. First, you poked him on the head and pretended to be having a thumb war with yourself to cover it up. After you had done that a few times, you resorted to poking him in the side and using the same form of innocence. Again, you became annoyed with him because he was not responding to your antics so you decided to get a little more persistent. You grabbed a sharpie, which you kept with you always in your pocket (a/n: lol Krysti), and started to draw little things on his face. He sat as still as stone for about five minutes until Ron came back through the portrait and just stared at you and Harry.

"You like?" you asked him after a bit.

He just stared at you again until he said, cautiously, "Harry, you do know that the marker she is using is permanent, right?"

This got a reaction. Harry stood up with a shocked look on his face and ran up the stairs saying things like, "CRAP!" and ran to the mirror in the boys' mirror. You ticked your finger down to one when he finally screamed. You couldn't hold it in any longer and cracked up. Ron was still staring at you, funny-like, and then said, "Why did you do that?" but he said it with a confused air instead of accusingly.

You replied, "Because, he was just sitting there but he wouldn't talk to me, even though I tried VERY hard so I found that it might create a reaction."

He answered with a meek "oh" and looked up to stairs from which Harry was just emerging.

"It's not coming off!" he shrieked.

You grinned maniacally and said, "That's because it's a sharpie."

"You evil, little…" but you didn't stay to find out what he was going to call you because you knew the consequences for your actions tended to come with very high regards to some people.

You managed to get halfway to the girl's staircase before you were snagged around the waist and your sharpie was ripped from your fingers. You were thrown over someone's shoulder and carried over to the couch where you were thrown down again. You looked up into the faces of Harry and Ron with innocent curiosity written on your face. They grinned maniacally, like you had, and uncapped the sharpie. You took this as a sign to run and call for help so you attempted to roll off the couch but they kept a strong grip on you so you were forced to call for help.

"HERMIONE, HERMIO-humph," you tried to say but were cut off by Ron's hand covering your mouth while Harry released his maverick side on your face.

He worked diligently for a few minutes before he stood up and proclaimed, "Voila! I have created a masterpiece!"

Ron released you and you glared at the pair of them. "That wasn't very nice," you said with a pouty face.

"Hey, I owed you some payback, did I not?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Yes, but you never give out the same punishment you were given; that's just tactless," replied with mock seriousness.

"Well, excuse me, but I guess this means that I will have to find an alternative payback," he said sneakily.

"No! No, no, that will do just fine," you said quickly, edging towards the dorms. You took your chance and ran. The unfortunate side though was that Hermione happened to be where you had dodged and so you tripped and landed on your back.

"Guys! What did you do to her!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron and Harry looked flustered for a few seconds and muttered incoherently until Harry said, "She started it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Sure she did." Hermione helped you off the ground and you mock-glared at the boys.

"Well, shall we head off to dinner?" Hermione asked. You nodded and you skipped out of the portrait.

The boys exchanged glances and jogged after them.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Thrown peas and cheese sauce littered the Slytherin table when they left. The whole school seemed entirely amused with you by the time you left, doing cart wheels in the Entrance Hall with sharpie all over your face.

You got to the Common Room and decided to hang out with the Weasley twins for awhile, planning pranks that would highlight your first day of classes.

You watched as the common room slowly emptied and you took out your journal. It was full of whatever you fancied at the moment, such as drawings and stories that came to you at random intervals. You were particularly engrossed in a drawing of an eye when you heard someone come down the stairs. You looked up to see the face of a technicolored Harry. He looked down at you and sat at the other end of the couch. You found this odd, for he did not even acknowledge your presence. You decided to engage him in conversation.

"What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"That's fun."

"Sure."

You decided this was not getting you anywhere so you returned to your notebook. It was a good half an hour till he said anything at all.

"What are _you_ doing up?'

"I'm an insomniac, so I do this every night."

"Oh."

You sat in silence again. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just silence. You broke it this time.

"What's your favorite color?"

"What!"

"What's your favorite color?" you asked again.

"Umm…green. Why?"

"I don't know. I don't like silence so I thought I'd ask a stupid question. You know, that's why you have sharpie all over your face. You wouldn't speak so it was too quiet, in which I thought to fill it. Too bad you didn't say anything. It would have saved you and me from humiliation tomorrow."

"Oh."

"Your turn."

"My turn for what?"

You have to ask a question or tell a story like I did."

"Oh. What's your favorite color?"

"How original. Red. What is your position on the quidditch team?"

"Seeker. You?"

"Chaser. What's your favorite animal?"

"Stag. You?"

"Black panther."

"Wait, why?"

"Because I can do this."

At this, you changed into your animagus form, a black panther. You stretched and walked over to Harry, smiled a creepy panther smile and turned back. He sat, transfixed at you, with wide eyes. This made you laugh a little.

"You…you're an animagus!'

"An illegal animagus."

A mix of emotions crossed his face and he asked, "Really?"

"No, that was a figment of your imagination. Of course, I am." You rolled your eyes.

"Could you, perhaps,….teach me?" he asked with eagerness in his voice.

"Tell you what, you show me the ropes around here and I will teach you to become an animagus. Maybe I'll teach Ron and Hermione too."

Harry's eyes lit up. "Thank you SO much, you don't know how much this means to me." He sat there just staring off into space while you pondered his answer.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why does it mean so much to you?"

"Umm, well….see my dad and his friends were all illegal animagi and…they can't really teach me because they're not…alive anymore."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. You didn't have to tell me," you said meekly. You felt ashamed of yourself.

"No, its okay," he said quietly. "I'm gonna go to bed now, I'm pretty tired," he said a few minutes of silence later.

"Goodnight," you said as he headed to the stairs.

You stayed down in the common room a bit later and then headed up to bed. You looked in the girls' mirror and stared at the sharpie written all across your face. You could just barely make out "By H.P." on the bottom. Oh, how you couldn't wait till tomorrow, you thought.

It had been a long day.


	2. quidditch!

Chapter 2

It was finally here. The day she had dreaded since that one day she slipped up that summer was here. She didn't write Harry again after that, or if she did, it was short notes on what she was doing and such. Harry never wrote back, even before that one letter, but she assumed that was because either the order regulated his mail or he was still in grief. She never broached the subject of her letter since "then" but now she would have to; another year was starting today, September 1, and she would she him at the platform.

Hermione took her time in getting ready today. It was the day she would deepen or lose her friendship altogether with Harry. She dressed in the same fashion and, for the first time ever, her mother had to call her down, for fear of being late.

Hermione was on edge while walking through the platform. Surely he would be there waiting for her and she dreaded looking at him. She crossed the barrier and standing before her was Harry and the Weasley's. They all looked up at her and smiled. She looked carefully at Harry as he approached her.

"Hey Hermione!"

_Hey Hermione_! That was all he could say to her! After the letter, surely he would have something more…she didn't know, maybe serious!

"Hi Harry," she said stiffly, still wary. "Now, see about my letter…"

But Harry cut in.

"Oh, sorry about that. The order didn't want me writing too many letters because of Voldemort and such so I'm sorry. Oh, and there was one letter that got all smeared because Leo was flying in the rain. I think it was around August. Was there anything I needed to know on there?" Harry asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Hermione was shocked and happy at the same time. She was saved! She could go on like it didn't happen and he wouldn't know!

"Hermione?"

"What! Oh, sorry, no there wasn't anything at all."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Okay then. Let's get on the train, then. Don't want Ron to forget about us and go snog Luna. Oh, wait, you don't know. Ron got together with Luna over the summer. Pretty funny, if you ask me, eh?"

With that, the two of them clambered onto the train after their traditional Weasley hug.

-

In truth, Harry did know what the letter. Instead of making Hermione fidget, he planned to surprise her.

This letter made Harry more happy then he could have thought, after what had happened. He could now have someone to love him like he loved them. So he planned. He planned for them to have a romantic getaway in Hogsmeade one day.

He had already talked to Ron about it. The Weasley's had invited him over about halfway through the summer and he had told Ron about Hermione's letter. He was a little surprised to say the least but encourage Harry to go after her. Not that anything could have stopped him anyways.

-

Things went comfortably throughout the first month of school, except for news of Voldemort's attacks and Ron off who knows where, doing _homework_ with Luna.

But that came to an abrupt stop at their first Hogsmeade trip.

Ron and Luna had gone off to leave Harry and Hermione some privacy. See, they were all in on the plot. Heck, even the teachers knew something was up. Hermione was, of course, oblivious to it all, and went on as normal. However, Harry was beginning to feel the strain. He had a hard time trying to contain himself around her. But he knew that he would have to wait to put the plan into action, otherwise, Hermione would become suspicious.

So in the last week of October, Harry and Hermione set off to the appeasing little town. Harry was telling a funny story about his summer with Dudley and Hermione was laughing jovially. He loved her smile. But that was beside the point, Harry thought as he shook his head.

They stopped in the Three Broomsticks for a quick drink and then headed off to all the other stores. Hermione stood impatiently while Harry went crazy in the quidditch supplies store and likewise with Hermione and the bookstore. Finally, they had completed all their shopping and were walking around Hogsmeade aimlessly.

"Hey, Hermione, do you mind we go up to the Shrieking Shack?"

"Umm, no, Harry, but do you really want to?" Hermione asked warily.

"Definitely. Come on."

Harry took Hermione's hand, ignoring the tingling, and led her up the hill. They finally made it up and just stood staring at the dilapidated building. It brought back many memories, especially for them. Then Harry glanced at Hermione before putting his plan into action.

"You know, Hermione, I have a confession to make to you. I lied to you."

"What? What are you talking about Harry?"

"I lied to you, on the platform before school started. I did get the letter, and I read it too. But you lied to me too. You said there was nothing important in there. It was very important, to me."

"Harry…" but she was at a loss for words.

He finally turned to her, smiling. He placed a finger on her lips and began to recite his speech. "I liked your letter, whether or not you meant it. Because, you said what I couldn't say to you. I love you, Hermione. I have for a long time but I haven't realized it since last year. Your letter just gave me more confidence. Of course, its going to all be used when I ask you this one question now." Harry reached into his pocket and brought it out with a crimson velvet box in tow. He kneeled down and stared up at Hermione, grin ever-present, and asked, "Hermione Granger, I love you and have always loved you. You make me complete and understand me more than anyone else. Will you, out of any mercy you still possess for me, marry me?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes and sincerity in his voice.

Of course, by this time, Hermione was shocked. She looked down at Harry, surprise written all over her face and processed the words in her brain. Finally, Hermione dropped down to her knees in front of him and said, in a breathy and quiet voice, "Yes! Yes, of course I will marry you."

And with that, Harry lent in for the first kiss ever. This was the happiest day of both their lives and they looked back on it fondly. It didn't matter that they had never dated whatsoever, all that mattered was that they loved each other, and so was the code for the rest of their lives.

And they lived happily ever after…


	3. pillow fight

Chapter 3

The first sound she heard on that first Monday morning of classes was Hermione's muggle clock, ringing incessantly. "UGHHHH…" ran around the room and the four girls got wearily to their feet.

"Remind me again, how you convinced me to have that all-night 'girl talk' with you," Hermione groaned.

"I thought you started it…" you retorted.

Somehow, you made it through your morning activities. You made a mental note to yourself that sharpie was permanent. You and Hermione tipsily stumbled down the stairs, yawning at random intervals. The guys were downstairs, in the same condition, except they were draped over the sofas and chairs. You slumped down next to Ron on the floor and snored. Of course, Hermione didn't believe it.

"Come on, if I gotta go down, so do you."

"I don't wanna," you moaned, your voice muffled by the carpet.

"Oh, come on, it will be over quicker than you think."

With that, she helped you up to your feet and you made the long trek down to Great Hall. You made your way to the table you had sat at after your talk with Dumbledore and surveyed the table. Your eyes widened in shock at the absence of one of the essentials.

"Where…where, where is…the coffee!" you squeaked out with difficulty. "No, no, this can't be happening! I NEED THE COFFEE! Help! Anybody! Call a Starbucks, quick!" Charlie screamed to the entire Hall. To complete her performance, Charlie promptly fainted onto the stone floor.

Needless to say, the school was speechless. Then, they began to whisper while the Gryffindors surrounding her began to laugh as she came to. "Oh, my gosh, I just had the worst dream. I dreamed that there wasn't any coffee here. I live off of coffee; there is no other way. I will _die_ without it. AH! The coffee!" Charlie had noticed the coffee pot that Dumbledore had miraculously conjured upon their table to save them the trouble of calming down a restless American. That could prove most difficult. She quickly poured a large cup of coffee, much to the amusement of the surrounding peoples, and drank happily. "YUM! This is better then Starbucks, and that is saying something. You gotta try some of this!" She waved the mug at Harry a little before taking another sip. The Great Hall was still speechless. "I still gotta get some things up in the common room so I'm gonna go now, okay? See you in class!" And with that, she was off, but not in the direction of the doors. All the eyes in the vicinity followed the strange figure (who, to add to her oddness, had sharpie all over her face) up to the staff table, where she began to speak to Dumbledore. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, for the wonderful coffee this morning. It was very generous of you." Dumbledore, amazingly, was slightly surprised himself.

"You are quite welcome, Mrs. Tudor, anytime," he answered.

"Well, I got to go, so have a good day!" You smiled sweetly and went off through the doors. And for once, the Great Hall was silent for more than a minute. That had to be a record.

Meanwhile, you were merrily skipping through the hallways to the common room. You needed to get your books for Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then you needed to find someone to take you there.

When you entered the girls' dormitory, you found a white envelope on your bed. You approached it and read your name on it in your mother's hand. You opened it and found a rather short note from your mother.

_Dear Charlie,_

I am sorry to tell you this, but your father and I have reached a difference in opinions and we have found it better for us to live separately. I want you to stay at school for the holidays while we work things out; I know that it could be difficult for you. Don't worry about a thing and just have fun while you are there. I will work out later the details.

With all my love,

Your mother

You had become to be teary-eyed but wiped them away quickly. You had always been the tough girl, and there was no need to end that now. You composed yourself, and then you gathered your books to go on your way.

On your way to class, still not knowing where it was, you thought about your relationship with your dad. He had always been preoccupied with work, so you never knew him well. He often stayed late. HE used to be around a lot. That changed a while back, and now you were thankful for your time away from him. He had become less tolerant and understanding. You wondered what they had argued about. It had to be something major. They often fought but now they would just not talk to each other. The more you thought about it, you were not all that miffed. He just annoyed you…

"CHARLIE! Wait up!" you heard from down the hall. You turned to see Hermione calling you. She looked haggard. "Didn't you hear me! I was calling you through the last fifty feet!"

"Oh, sorry, I was thinking…"

"That hard? Dare I ask about what?"

"Oh, it was nothing, I just got an owl from my mom."

"Oh, okay, well, do you have any inkling of where you are going? 'Cause, I can show you."

"Nope, no idea whatsoever. Lead on, oh, chauffer of Hogwarts," you said with a mock-English accent.

"I'd be happy to, fair princess o' the America's." And with that, you latched arms and, sophisticatedly, pranced to your destination: the Charms classroom. Unfortunately, you hadn't pranced fast enough. Class had already started.

"Ladies! I must reprimand your lateness for class. Hermione, I am surprised at you," the professor, a very small man, said.

"Sorry, but I got lost so Hermione led me back to the classroom. It's my fault she is late," you explained.

"Oh, I see. Well, then, Hermione, five points to Gryffindor for your assistance to our transfer student. Please take a seat."

Feeling relieved that you hadn't gotten Hermione in trouble, you both took seats in the back, next to Harry and Ron. They smirked at you before turning back to your professor, whose name you found out to be Flitwick. They didn't see, however, you stick your tongue out, as a rebuttal. Childish, but fitting.

"Now, now," Flitwick said to quiet them. "Today we will be working on a more advanced hovering charm. It is called the strength charm, because it can lift heavier objects with less difficulty. However, if it were to be used with a lighter object it would become difficult to control. So, to perform this charm, you must repeat the words _ante inducium_. With it, your wand must go up, down and a strict left turn. Do as I do," and with that he performed the charm. The desk that he had tried to lift, rose off of the ground and moved in front of the pile of books at the back of the classroom before returning to the ground.

You, being the overachiever you were (not), had learned this particular charm last year so you surprised Hermione by performing it on her, so every time she went to perform the charm, she would, for reasons unknown to her, would jerk upward, making it difficult to concentrate. Of course, after she heard Charlie break out in laughter, she knew what was causing this phenomenon.

"You… looked so flabbergasted… he he…you should have seen it!" you squealed. She just stared at you, open-mouthed. It was quite amusing. "Well, you've had your fun so… I suggest we repeat the experience on some less-expecting neighbors," she said calmly, though the twinkle was evident in her eyes.

You looked at her, grinning, for a second before pulling on one of your trademark Jim Carrey laughs and looking at the boys. "I'll take Harry, you take Ron, capeesh?" you asked with a wicked grin.

"My pleasure! Shall we?" putting her wand at the ready.

"We shall."

And with that said, the two of you whispered the spell, and where sent into fits of laughter when the guys started thrashing around in the air, shocked by the sudden lack of gravity. The had the most horror struck faces on that soon the whole class, including Flitwick (who fell off his perch from hilarity), was doubled over, which was only intensified when the spell was broken because the two, shall we say, "mischievous", girls, lost their concentration and thus the groaning boys on the floor.

When the guys recovered, however, they glared at them mutinously. They were looking pretty threatening when Flitwick called order to the classroom. This was fortunate for the girls because Ron looked ready to go after them. Needless to say, they were edgy.

"People, people, I can see we have mastered that charm judging from our excellent example so I will dismiss you all early."

Ron and Harry looked like Christmas had come early, but the girls stared at Flitwick accusingly. Flitwick himself, though he would not admit verbally, wanted to see what would become of the two young ladies, thus his choice to end class early.

"You said it."

"We better run."

They dashed out of the classroom, leaving their things, knowing it would only slow them down, and took off down the hallway. They had made it halfway, and things were looking positive, when they heard a couple of tickle charms spouted off at the other end of the corridor. They hit them in the back, and they collapsed to the ground, holding their stomachs, obviously laughing. They could just barely make out two people hovering above them through their tears of laughter.

"Got ya."

"Did you really think you could get away with it?"

"YEP!" you screamed through your giggles. (Ugh!giggles)

"Well, Harry, I think we should teach them a lesson. Nobody messes with us! Especially girls! Now what shall we do?" Ron asked conspiratorially to Harry.

"Ahh, I seem to have the perfect idea. Step aside, this is going to be fun!" and Harry muttered some words in Latin. They removed the charms, while laughing hard, and took off towards the tower. You and Hermione straightened up, brushed off your clothes, and turned to face each other.

"Ahh!" yelled Hermione, pointing to your head.

"Ahh!" you yelled in return, pointing at her head.

When you had turned to look at each other, you found out what they had done. They had colored your hair abnormal hair colors. You could see Hermione's was pink and you picked out a strand of your own and found it to be red!

"Yes! I always wanted to dye my hair red!" You silently thanked Harry and studied the color of your hair. It was the perfect color, a mix between crimson and burgundy. You knew, however, that Hermione would not like pink so you asked her if she would like you to change it back.

"Yes, please! Ugh, I hate pink!" she whined.

"You are a pink hater, too! Yay! We hate pink, we hate pink, we hate pink!" you sang. You, and everyone knew it, had a strong distaste for pink anything. You actually formed anti-pink buttons and passed them around the school. Naturally, many scowled at you but it was all-good. You didn't hang out much with girls at your old school. Most of them were stuck up, and their lives revolved around gossip. Instead, you hung out with the guys, occasionally playing quidditch (just kidding, it was like a drug to you) with them. You liked Hermione though; she was cool.

You changed her hair back, and she asked you if you would like her to do the same.

"No way! I've always wanted to get red hair for a bit, maybe just on the tips, but this color is awesome! He is going to be furious that I changed yours back and that I actually like mine! I can't believe he didn't remember we are witches and _could_ change it back. Guys! They never think, now do they?" you ranted. Hermione just laughed at you. You liked making people laugh; you found it to be your life's work.

"Come on, let's go get our stuff from the room. Then we can plot the next, shall we say, "mishap" of Ron and Harry."

She smiled and walked down the hallway with you to Flitwick's classroom.

After retrieving their books under the amused eye of the professor, the two girls headed off towards the Defense against the dark arts classroom. They had not forgotten about their ongoing battle so they planned a trap for them. Later that day, they would have their divination class. Of course, Hermione wouldn't be there, because she had Ancient Runes, but Charlie would be there. She was informed that they would be going over crystal gazing again and thought it would be a welcome surprise for them to actually see something. Charlie thought up a brilliant vision and whispered it into her partner-in-crime's ear. She was met with an excited squeal. A few minutes of careful details, it was all set, and the rest of the class began filling in. They noted Harry and Ron giving them furtive looks out of the corner of their eyes and laughed maniacally. They could tell this was gonna be good.

Chapter4

Harry and Ron were very wary about the coming afternoon; no one could call those wicked smiles, anything but deadly. Plus, the fact that Charlie was a bonafide troublemaker did not help matters. She was as deadly even if you knew she was doing something, rather than not. Needless to say, they were scared.

"I'm thinking we should ditch all our next classes, its only gonna get worse the longer this goes on," Ron pleaded with Harry.

"Ron, we can't just skip the first day of classes! For bloody sakes, they can't do anything that bad in class! I mean, in History of Magic, they'll, well Charlie, will fall asleep so they can't do anything. And in Divination! Its only Charlie so she can't deal with us both! I mean, come on, Ron! They're just girls!" Harry exclaimed as they left Defense.

Little did they know, around the corner, there were eavesdroppers, celebrating their excellent planning and acting skills.

Charlie walked leisurely into Divination. She had no reason to worry; her last Divination teacher had praised her abilities, and she was often sought upon for advice by friends, concerning their luck with the girls they were going to ask out. She advised them well, too.

She saw the boys sitting over by the shelves and chose a seat close but not invading their space and arousing their suspicion.

History of Magic had been a complete success. Hermione had diligently written up a schedule for their prank, under the guise of notes. And Charlie, well, she had the easy job of pretending to sleep, which was performed flawlessly, because she was asleep. They left the boys with a sense of security again because there was no need to worry, or was there?

Professor Trelawny started off her lesson in her usual fashion: making ridiculous predictions and putting upon them a sense of the unknown. Of course, it was all fake, they all knew that, well, except for Lavender and Parvati.

"Class, today, we will, again, be predicting with the crystal ball. You have already learned how to interpret it so I bid good luck and to begin."

With that, everybody's face turned to the luminescent orb in front of them; not that anyone saw anything, mind you.

Some activity was going on, however, at Ron and Harry's table. It was thirty minutes into the class, and they were already bored out of their wits when a figure started to evade the mist in their sphere. They both saw it though they didn't notice that each other had seen it. They inched closer, and closer, almost touching that glass when they could finally make out the picture. It was a girl, and she was hiding under a small coffee table, holding what looked suspiciously like shaving cream. Next to her, there were two sets of feet, and those socks were terribly familiar. The look on their faces was priceless when, at the same time, they realized what they were seeing and took action. They looked over to her table, and she was gone. Their hands dived for the edge of the tablecloth and they pulled up, searching frantically for the girl who they recognized as Charlie. However, there was nobody there. They saw each others heads under the table and asked," You saw it too?" They both nodded and proceeded to pull their heads out from under the table.

In their confusion, they failed to see the girl they had been looking for slip away beside their table and journey, stealthily, back to her round table. She grinned to herself, mentally congratulating herself on the feat.

Charlie met up with Hermione in the place they had designated before class. She greeted her with an evil grin and they locked arms, turned to the door, and marched proudly to the Great Hall where dinner was just starting.

Harry and Ron were still on edge from the Divination hoax. They had actually seen something clearly and it turned out fake! That was the biggest let down since quidditch being canceled in fourth year, and that was pretty big.

They, feeling disappointed and surly, had gone straight to dinner without stopping off at the common room to drop off their book bag. They had crumpled down into a seat and munched drably on muffins. They didn't even look up when the girls came and sat down. They noticed, however, that they had quickly loaded some food upon their plates and began eating speedily.

"Why are you eating like that? That's usually my job," Ron asked in a bored tone.

"Well, we kinda set up this prank, and we wanna see how it pulls off," Charlie answered. The boys only looked mildly surprised.

"Okay. What is it?"

"Can't tell, we promised we would keep it secret till it was over," Hermione answered with a giggle.

"Righty then." Ron surveyed them like they had green hair.

"Well, we better be moving along, don't you think Hermione?" Charlie asked urgently with a pointed glance at the boys.

"Oh! Oh, yes, we should go, or we'll miss it. Bye, guys, we'll see you later."

"Much later!" Charlie yelped and dragged Hermione off.

Harry and Ron looked mighty confused. "What just happened there?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, mate, I just don't know," Ron replied.

Little did they know, the girls-in-question were standing right outside the Great Hall doors. They could hardly hold in their laughter as they watched the unsuspecting victims slowly succumbing to the prank. And that's when it happened.

"Yipe! Ron! What did you put-YIPE- down my shirt! AHHHH!" Harry screamed as he jumped up and twisted jerkily, reaching all over his body. Ron was quite bemused until he felt it too: something was crawling all over them.

"Yipe! Ahh, get it out! OH! No, not there! Ahh!" Ron began to jerk around like Harry was, and the entire Hall began to stare confusedly at the two.

"OH! Ron! It was the -YIPE- girls! Remember, ugh, their prank, this was -oh- it!" Harry yelped. It suddenly came to the two tormented boys, what had happened. Charlie had tricked them into being distracted at Divination, while she slipped some very nasty surprises into their bags, the ones they had dug in to retrieve their books. Harry, after some thought and scratching, recognized it as Creepy-Crawly powder, a product distinct to the American Zonko's company. This was not good.


	4. pranks

Chapter 5

The treachery did not end after dinner. No, no, the game between them went on for a couple months with a fair share of memorable times, like that one time with the invisible pin that kept poking them during McGonagoll's class. During one chilly December day, when the boys got back to the common room, they found it was far from over, for upon the mantel lay the next part of the prank war. An enlarged photo, much like last year's Quibbler cover, of Harry and Ron could be seen from the farthest corner, but it was what they were doing that made it hilarious. Harry and Ron were doing the most barbarous activities; Harry was picking his nose, and then, to the disgust of the house, _ate _it, and Ron, well, Ron was putting on make-up. The most horribly ugly-colored rouge was being applied in copious amounts to his face. This was the most comical prank to happen in the school since the fireworks of last year, maybe even better.

Needless to say, Harry and Ron were both embarrassed and furious. They couldn't believe the girls had pulled this off. They looked around the common room, but they could not be found. In actuality, they were cowering at the top of the girls' staircase, shaking with mirth. It was a combined effort of Hermione's genius and supply of resources, and Charlie's creativity and sense of humor. They knew, however, that it would be _very_ dangerous to go down, at least today.

"That…was, hilarious! I have to give you some serious credit for that," Hermione got out between ragged breaths, to Charlie.

"All I have to say is, I'd like to thank the academy, my parents, and all those who believed in me!" Charlie exclaimed, her hand over her heart in drama. This sent them into more breakouts. They calmed themselves down and headed into the dorm, to do some of their homework that they had received that day.

"What's the symbol for seas in divination?"

"Umm, I don't know, I don't take Divination. Where's your book?"

"Uh-oh, I left it downstairs! But I have to do this homework, it's due tomorrow! I wonder if they are still down there." Charlie got up and edged toward the door. She opened the door slightly and peered down the railing. The common room seemed deserted. "Okay, I'm going down there, I don't see anybody. If I don't come back in two minutes, come look for me, I might be in the enemy's hands." Charlie took a tentative step down and did this until she reached the bottom. She surveyed the room and made a dash for the book.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Girl down, girl down! Help, anybody, help!" Charlie screamed through the common room.

Harry, unable to sleep, had decided his time was better used to seek revenge upon the source of his embarrassment. He had hid under the stairs, waiting for her to inevitably come down for her book. Then he would pounce.

Harry grabbed her around the middle and carried her around to the couch where he sat her down, making sure to sit on her legs so she could not easily escape.

"Now, what in the world would lead you to make a mockery of me in my own school?" Harry asked in a calm voice.

Charlie, however, was too surprised to speak. She just stared at Harry for a moment before attempting to make an excuse. "Umm, well, you, uh, did kinda call open war, uh, by that prank of yours, first week," she managed to squeak out.

"What's this! Charlie Tudor, speechless! I need an award for this, it must be a first." Harry seemed thoughtful for a few minutes and then said," You know, I suppose I could do better than that. Lets try, shall we?" And with that, Harry silenced her with the one thing she couldn't respond to, or, at least, at the moment.

Harry kissed her.

"Ah, well, that did the trick, then, didn't it?"

Charlie stared at him, with the epitome of shock written all over her face.

"I am victorious! Well, since we have school tomorrow, I must be off to bed. Goodnight, Charlie!" And with that, he was off, a stupid smirk on his face.

Charlie really was speechless. She didn't know how long she lied there before she sat up and actually showed life. She was so shocked that when she made it upstairs and entered the dorm, the girls all asked her what was wrong but she didn't answer. In fact, she just lie down, closed the curtains, and fell asleep.

She was, as you say, brain dead.

Harry walked into the dorm with a grin on his face. This was one of the few times, since his godfather's death, he had been happy. Just thinking of him could put him into commission for a few days, and everyone knew why. He still blamed himself. He felt as though he had blood on his hands. When he had arrived at headquarters, he barely talked to anyone, and he refused, point blank, to approach the subject of Sirius. He knew the immediate change in his behavior was evident to the people at school, though most assumed it was because of finally being seen in a good light by the papers. The teachers were surprised immensely by his attentiveness in class, though he had good reason. The prophecy loomed over his head like a rain cloud, but he did not tell anyone about it. At the beginning of term, he attempted become distant with Ron, Hermione, everyone, but Dumbledore wouldn't hear it. He was summoned to his office the second day of school and received a lecture to remember. He respected Dumbledore, thought he was still somewhat discontent with last years events. But Harry did respond to Dumbledore. He livened up a bit, and Ron and Hermione were grateful to him. They had gotten back to normal, well, almost normal, by Halloween, and things were getting better, too. The whole "Charlie versus Twins" was a welcome distraction to what his head normally dwelt on. Of course, Charlie alone was enough to do that.

Yes, he hated to admit it, but he was, blatantly putting it, fascinated by her. He supposed he was so used to everything that went on here that she seemed terribly out of the ordinary. She was a high point in his day; never knowing what would happen next with her compared to having Voldemort sneak up on him was easy to decide. He found her to be a welcome distraction. His mind dwelt upon more normal things for him as a teenager than "Harry-the-rival-of-Voldemort", like his new interest in the transfer. Of course, all those years that required something closely related to courage had made him a bit more, shall we say, daring. That daring was the part of him that had kissed Charlie that night, not that he was disappointed. In fact, he was terribly amused: Charlie could find the most meaningless thing to say at any given point imaginable, except when she was kissed.

Let's just say, he couldn't wait to see her reaction tomorrow, though he was a little nervous.

Charlie got up at the regular time the next morning, though she seemed a bit distracted. The girls in her dorm didn't know what gave the tip off: was it the fact that she got up with no protest or that she was wearing her socks in the shower? Either way, they could tell something was up.

Charlie and Hermione decided not to wait for the guys and head down to the Great Hall without them. They talked little, mostly because Charlie wouldn't say much or pay much attention. So they just headed down in silence. Surprisingly, when they arrived downstairs, somebody was already waiting for them. Harry had a few pieces of bacon and toast loaded already on to his plate and was munching on them with an amused smirk.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione greeted when he finally noticed them coming towards him. He was careful to notice that Charlie was walking slightly behind Hermione and kept her eyes locked on him as they approached, almost in a defensive stance. She muttered a quick "hi" and sat down, though unfortunately she was forced to sit next to him.

"Hey, Hermione, Charlie." Harry spoke Charlie's name in almost a teasing way, though Hermione did not notice.

"Why are you up so early? You never are in the Great Hall before us, usually we have to drag you down," Hermione inquired, still unaware of Charlie's tenseness.

"Oh, I just felt like coming down early, no reason," He replied.

Charlie loosened up a little when talk turned to other things and even managed to get in a joke here and there, in between sips of coffee. The other guys came down, all wondering, like them, why Harry was up so early. He replied the same, and they all sat and waited till it was time to leave.

"Okay, everybody, up and at it, we've got class." Hermione corralled the lifeless students, for they became that at the sound of "class", and they stood up.

"I forgot some of my books in the common room. I gotta go get them, don't wanna forget them now do I?" While Harry was saying this, he looked directly at Charlie, who, at hearing his words and recalling last night's events, went sheet white. Harry, pleased with the reaction his little taunt had, winked at Charlie and walked away.

Charlie just stood still, waiting till he had left the Hall to say something. "Did you, did you…see that?" she stuttered, pointing meekly at the doors. Everybody looked at her like she was crazy.

"What in the world are you talking about, that was just Harry. Are you okay? Have you had your coffee?" Hermione asked. Apparently, none of them had seen the look Harry had given her. She was about ready to scream in exasperation because Harry must be playing tricks on her.

She walked out with the rest of them and waved a good bye to the twins as they headed out to Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class. She kept looking frantically to make sure Harry couldn't sneak up on her; that would definitely make her snap.

Hermione started to tell Charlie about the quidditch pitch, in a last attempt to get her attention. She started talking about past Gryffindor games, and Charlie had no choice but to be sucked into the conversation; Quidditch was her weakness. Hermione had just gotten to the part when Harry fell of his broom in third year, and she was facing the pitch, when something wrapped their arms around Charlie, and she jumped. She peered around her shoulder and saw Harry grinning at her. Her mouth fell open.

"Oh, sorry, Charlie, I tripped on a rock on my way over. Sorry for falling on you, there," Harry said just loudly enough to enable Hermione and Ron to get a good explanation; apparently they believed it because they greeted him.

"Oh, hey Harry. We better get going, Hagrid will be starting class soon." With that, Ron, Hermione, and Harry headed off, down the hill, but not before Harry gave a backwards glance and wink. Charlie, again, was shocked. She knew that Harry, being a quidditch player herself, would not have tripped. Plus, the fact that he was clearly playing with her head did not help matters. She then decided that it would be wisest to regard Harry with utmost caution and avoid all alone time with him.

Harry, though, was quite pleased with himself. Last night, he had decided it was time to play his own private prank on Charlie, because nothing seemed to match hers. Plus, he knew that this was an excellent way to flirt with the "unflirtable", if that was even a word. See, from the little time that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gotten to know Charlie, she had been reserved about romantic relationships. Whenever anyone brought it up, she would try to change the topic byway of jokes. He figured that there was a reason behind it but didn't want to ask. So, in a last ditch way to try to reveal his feelings, he started his plans. He would inadvertently try to flirt with her but making sure so that no one could remark on it. He knew it would flummox her, just like it had last night, and that was what he was aiming for. He was a sly, sly dog. (a/n: lol)

Charlie finally regained her sense of self and headed off after them. She kept quiet and narrowed her eyes at Harry's back. She was suspicious of what that boy was up to. They walked into Hagrid's paddock and waited for him to begin.

" ello', ladies and gents. Well, today we'll be workin' with some of these here Pegasus. Pegasus are a cross breed between horses and eagles. They usually are nomadic and like ter travel over the country. Now, there are a few things you're gonna need ter know. Pegasus come into two colors, black and white; the white are females an' the males are black. They'll defend ther' mate to the death an' don't like intruders. Now, I'm gonna let ya' approach them two atta' time and see if they take to ya'. Now, who'd like ter start?" Hagrid asked, completely oblivious to the whole class feeling very apprehensive about the whole "no intruders" thing. Of course, there was one person that would raise their hand.

"Hey Hagrid, me and Charlie will try it out first!" Harry called out. Charlie just gaped at him, for she had said _nothing_ of the sort to him, whatsoever.

"Brillian' Harry, Charlie! Knew' ya would want ta get a piece o' this. Well, come on over, and just come over an pet em'." Hagrid led a smirking Harry and a white Charlie over to the Pegasus. Harry seemed calm and petted the male while Charlie tentatively struck out a hand to stroke the female. She became a little more comfortable when she found that they wouldn't attack her and found it quite calming. In the background they heard Hagrid explaining some more points about Pegasus, but she tuned them out as she made eye contact with the beautiful half-stallion. It was a truly beautiful creature, the image of strength, stateliness, and grace. She continued to pet the pure white animal, until it started to nuzzle her, and then jerk her head up and back. She took this as a sign to get on; so she did. It was a little tall to she used the nearby stump to elevate herself. But when she got on, the Pegasus started to nudge Harry who, after the shock, took this the same way she did. He climbed up behind Charlie and wrapped his arms around her, whispering to her, "Wouldn't want to loose you, now would I?" throwing in his smirk for good measure. Charlie looked around at him in shock, but she abruptly faced forward when the Pegasus reared up and ran into the air. Harry, having experienced an almost exact same scenario, sat back and enjoyed the ride while Charlie was sitting stock still, a look of worry in her eye. The black Pegasus could be seen flying to their side, weaving in and out around them. They didn't stay in the air long, but instead, they glided down to a clearing in the Forbidden Forest, and Harry protested.

"Hey, we're not supposed to go in there, it's forbidden!" he exclaimed and tapped the beast. The Pegasus seemed annoyed by this and kept going, jerking a bit to make her point. Harry raised his hands, signaling no offense, before replacing them around Charlie.

They landed and made a few rounds to loose momentum before they stopped. When they did, they found themselves in the wake of a dilapidated looking building. But it was not this that shocked them, it was what was written on the banner in the front that caught their attention, and it wasn't just Harry's, either.

"Long Live the Marauders" was written in scrawly handwriting in front of the fort.


	5. im running out of titles

Chapter 6

Charlie and Harry simply gazed upon the dilapidated structure. They were too surprised to either get off the Pegasus or say anything. So instead, they just sat and marveled in the discovery of a link to their past.

Obviously, Harry knew all of the Marauders. He had been introduced formally to all but one, the one he should know the best. However, James Potter, top dog in the Marauders, was no more, just like Sirius Black. This shack of a fort resulted in a conflict of emotions. One minute, he was thankful to the pegasuses for bringing them there, while also, he was depressed because it made him think about his godfather. He was terribly curious about what was inside, though he didn't dare hop down from the beast.

Charlie was in frenzy also. She had heard of the Marauders, oh yes she had. Her second cousin was none other than Sirius Black. She had received a few personal items of his, after he was pronounced dead over the summer. Among those items was a book, well, a journal, more like. She had spent two days locked up in her room, without coming out for food, reading from his memories, crying about the loss of her relative. She didn't want to tell Harry of her relation to Sirius but she thought now would be an opportune time to do it. She knew he would appreciate it.

They were startled when the Pegasus started to move. They were not ready to leave yet, though did not find it wise to bother the creature. Harry quickly reattached onto Charlie as they took off, back to the paddock. They just sat in shock until they glided gracefully down. They quickly hopped off and quickly strode to the back of the group as other pairs begged to have their turn. Harry turned to Charlie.

"Please, don't tell anyone about that…that place, not yet at least, okay?" he implored with a desperate look. Harry fully intended to go back and explore the fort. Charlie nodded meekly in response, and they both collapsed onto a rock, too deep in their thoughts to pay attention. Hermione and Ron noticed, though they did not bother them.

Class ended, and they were all glad to be headed off. Now was time for History of Magic, lovely, they thought. They pounded into the castle and dragged themselves up the stairs. They arrived into Binn's classroom early and just sat. When the students finally began to pour in, Binns wasted no time in diving into the lesson. Of course, they all went out like lights. That was, except Harry, Charlie, and Hermione, who was taking notes. The first half of class went without incident, besides Ron having a dream about spiders. The second half, however, was a completely different ball game.

Charlie was already on her last nerve with the silence. She didn't bode well with calm settings. In fact, they were, most commonly, her undoing. She could not count on her fingers and toes, the amount of times that she had gotten in trouble for making light of a quiet situation. So, naturally, she was compelled to repeat the habit.

Charlie figured a minor distraction was called for. She made herself ready, poised for the attack, and made her move.

A "pop" sound reached Harry's ears, and he started. He questioned himself as to what it could be when it happened again. "Pop" He shifted his head to see if anyone had heard it and saw both Charlie and Hermione staring up at Professor Binns innocently. He turned the other way and heard the sound again. He quickly turned his head, almost getting whiplash, but both were as innocent as ever. So pretended to focus on Binns while keeping an eye on the girls. He saw Charlie lean forward and- there it was! He turned to her with a narrowed, accusing eye, and she merely looked bewildered. At least, until she snorted from trying to hold in her mirth. After completing his task of finding the source of the noise, Harry went back to falling asleep.

"ARGHH!" Harry slammed his hands on his desk and stood up, annoyed to the point where he could take no more.

"Pumel, is there a problem?" the professor asked.

Ignoring Binns' mistake, he said "No, sir," and sat down. He felt thoroughly embarrassed, as the entire class was looking at him with raised eyebrows. He gave a weak smile, and they all turned back around.

Harry, however, gave Charlie and Hermione, who had their heads under the desk so as to hide their red faces, the evil eye. They ignored him and continued to vex him with their odd sound throughout the rest of the class. Harry was about to call it quits and have a breakdown when the bell rang. He raised his hands up and muttered, "Thank God!"

The girls just laughed and collected their things.

Their next class was Divination for the boys and Charlie, while Hermione had Arithmancy. They trudged up the winding stairs, sunk down along the wall, and stared exhaustedly up at the trapdoor.

"Ahh, trapdoors, they hold so many memories, don't they Harry?" Ron perused as they sat.

"Oh, yeah, they certainly do," he answered.

"What do ya mean?" you inquired, dumbfounded as to what they were referring.

"Oh, first year adventure. We were going to catch Snape, and the only way to go was down through the trap door. Nearly go our heads bitten off, didn't we, Harry?" Ron explained. Harry nodded in response as you grimaced at Snape's name. You didn't particularly like his class.

"Too bad Snape's still here," you muttered. Before either of them could say anything else, the trapdoor opened, and the ladder came down, nearly giving Neville a large lump on his head. "Here comes fun!" you exclaimed sarcastically as you climbed up the ladder. As soon as you set foot in the room, you were suffocated by the stuffy smell of her incense. Apparently, Trelawny had put a little too much spice in the fire.

As the boys climbed up the ladder behind you, you muttered to them, "What do ya say we fix the smell in hear?" and revealed a package of dung bombs from your robe pocket. They grinned as you crept stealthily over to the fireplace and dumped a couple into the pot, before slipping away. You had charmed the bombs to set off about a fourth of the way into the class period so you could not be blamed.

You, Harry, and Ron chose seats in the back, near the window and snickered. You couldn't wait until Trelawny showed up. You didn't have to wait long.

"Welcome, class, hurry, take your seats. Today, I decided we would work on a branch of meditation that we have never worked with before. I am going to help put one person in a trance at your table, and the others may ask questions. I do NOT want any one to abuse the use of another's mind in any way. Please decide among you who will go into a trance."

"Not me."

"Nope, not I."

"Will not.'

"You wimps."

"Hey! I don't see you doing it!"

"Alright, alright! Let's do eenie, meanie, minie, moe," you suggested.

"Here, let me do it, stick out your fists. Okay." You said the little rhyme and Ron went out. You did it again, and, would you know it, you came out loser. "Fine! I'll do it."

The professor came over and said a spell. You felt your eyes getting droopy. You finally felt yourself going to sleep.

Harry and Ron watched as Charlie tried to fight off the spell, but eventually gave in. She swayed slightly on her chair, and Trelawny told them to begin. She walked away and left the poor girl in dangerous hands.

Ron rubbed his hands together and said, "Let's get started, shall we?"

Harry nodded, and they thought of a question to ask. Ron blurted out the first that came to mind: "Where do you keep your private store of American joke products?" He sat on the edge of his seat as he waited for an answer. Charlie swayed a bit more before answering.

"The girls' room. Underneath my bed. Secret compartment in the mattress."

Ron swore, knowing full well that boys weren't allowed in the girls' dormitory. He had been hoping to get so use out those.

Before they could ask another question though, the planned prank took its affect and the students fled the room. All the other tables quickly woke their trancee and followed Trelawny's instructions to evacuate. Of course, owing to the fact that dung bombs plus incense made it ten times worse, the boys ran away before waking Charlie, and soon the room was vacant except for her.

"Wait, Ron, Charlie is still up there. We've got to go get her," Harry said.

"No way, I'm not going back up there, you go get her," Ron exclaimed as he put his hands up in defense.

"Fine, go ahead." With that, Harry headed back up to the stinky entrapment. He walked into the room with is nose held firmly closed and walked over to Charlie.

She looked so peaceful, and he admired her face. He sat and looked for a second before an idea struck him. She was still under the trance, and he could ask her some questions without the eye of Trelawny on him. "Charlie, how do you know of the Marauders?" He had been wondering about this since History of Magic. When they had landed, she had not made a sound like he would have expected her to. He figured she would want to know about it, but, judging from her reaction, she had an inkling of who the Marauders were.

"Sirius was my second cousin. I got his journal when he died. It talked about the Marauders," she said dazedly.

Harry was severely taken aback. He had not expected that answer. He suspected that her parents had told her about them, from their school days. He was mixed between happiness and regret. He was glad to meet a nicer member of his family, but he also felt guilty about what happened to him. Surely she would blame him for his death. But, why hadn't she told him that she knew. Surely the journal would have talked about his father. He was so confused that he decided to ask another question. By this time he had completely forgotten about the smell.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?" he asked with a weak voice.

"I was going to tell you today. Before then, it had never occurred to me to tell you. Plus, it would devastate you."

"Do you hate me?"

"I could never hate you, Harry. I hate Belatrix Black."

Harry was never more glad about anything before. She didn't blame him! He still had her friendship! Well, he wouldn't if he kept asking questions that he should ask when she wasn't under a trance. He figured she would wake if she were touched so he decided to do it his way. He leant in and gave her a kiss. She started blinking and stared up at Harry.

"I knew this whole trance thing wouldn't work. What is that smell? And where is everybody?" She seemed thoroughly confused. Harry merely broke out laughing. The relief added to the hilarity of the situation made him absolutely fall to pieces. She too began to laugh, though he didn't know why. They finally calmed down.

"Why were you laughing?" Harry asked, hiding a snort.

"What, you can laugh and I can't?" she retorted.

"But what were you laughing about?" he chuckled.

"What's with all the questions?" she wondered aloud.

That sent them into more fits before the smell hit them again, and Charlie ran screaming from the room, while Harry followed behind. The students watched in amusement as the two Gryffindors raced down the corridor, one screaming, one chuckling. You had to admit, it was funny. They finally made it to the common room and collapsed onto the sofa. Charlie was gasping.

"You know, I have something to talk to you about. It's about the building we saw earlier," Charlie said, changing into a somber mood.

"Oh, that, see, when you were in the trance after the class left, I asked you about that, so I know what you were going to say," he said, sheepishly.

Charlie stared at him for a moment before saying, "You could have just asked me without the trance, you know. I would've answered you truthfully."

"I know, I asked you that, too. But I was curious after we left and I didn't know if you would tell and didn't want to waste the opportunity. I sorry, though," he replied.

"Its okay. What all did you ask?" she inquired.

"Oh, first, I just asked how you knew about the Marauders, which you answered, and then why you hadn't told me," Charlie tried to interrupt but Harry put up his hands to silence her," and I understand. I'm kinda glad you waited. And lastly," Harry looked down at this," I asked if you hated me." He stopped and looked up at Charlie.

Charlie looked at him kindly, and smiled. "I couldn't hate you Harry, not that there was anything to hate you for. You should know that," she said, poking him in the chest. He caught her finger as she withdrew it. He shook it accusingly back at its owner.

"You shouldn't say that. You never know what I might do. You best watch your back Tudor," he said sarcastically, smiling. Charlie laughed again. "Well, you know what this means, though, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, thoroughly confused.

"I mean, we have an adventure on our hands. You didn't think I would actually let that abandoned fort go further into disrepair without at least exploring it a bit, did you?" he asked, an excited glint in his eye.

"True, true, we can't have that now, can we?" she replied, smiling back. "But it's in the Forbidden Forest so we have to be prepared, okay? I hate to play the mature one but we can't go in there and get ourselves injured. No doubt those tricky Marauders have booby traps set up," she said thoughtfully.

"Well, I'll look over Sirius' journal later to see if there's anything about it. You can read it with me if you want to," she offered.

"I'd be honored, miss," he responded, looking happier than he had in a while.


	6. journal

Chapter 7

Hermione and Ron were still oblivious to the discovery in the forest and Harry and Charlie's new past time: reading Sirius' journal. They usually crept to the Room of Requirement at night to read it. They went whenever they could; however, that wasn't very much because the teachers found it necessary to assign strenuous long-term assignments so most of their free time was spent sleeping. However, when they could sneak away, they would configure the room to have a comfy couch and a roaring fire. Sometimes, the room would have some chocolate frogs and such if they had a sweet tooth.

The first night was the best for them. Harry got to understand a little more about Sirius, his father, Remus, and, though he didn't care for it, Pettigrew. Charlie got to understand a little more of what life was like for him with the help of Harry. The first entry went a little something like this:

Dear Journal (no, I REFUSE to call you a diary),

Well, guess what, I, Sirius Black, have succumbed to the geekyness of writing a journal. And no, it's not a diary; that's just too…feminine, shall we say. Yeah, I don't know how I got myself to do it, but here I am.

I guess I'll just do it so I can look back when I'm fifty or something and say, "yep, once a marauder, always a marauder." Moony finally found out how to make that map! We've got all the secret passages on it. We still have a few minor adjustments to do though, or should I say moony. Me and James don't really get how he did it, and I'm not even going to begin with Wormtail. We went into the forest last nigh; it was cool. We found this clearing that James thinks we could turn into something. Moony's not all that happy about it being in the forest though. He thinks we should just keep to the Shack. I countered with what if it caved in. I think he's still wary because he's prefect and all. But I know he'll give in eventually. He always does. Not that he's a pushover either, though.

James, well, he's still working on Lily. She refuses to talk to him anymore. I keep telling him he should give up but nope. He's stubborn like that. Besides that, he's still being a pompous flyer on the field. Of course, that too is because of Lily but you know, let him have his fun. I'm gonna laugh so hard when eventually falls off it. No hard feelings, though.

Wormtail is still his same old self. The other day, he was messin' around with his wand and he accidentally lit Bernie's hair on fire. She started screaming and Wormtail tried to put it out with a bucket of water. I think she was better off on fire. She was all wet and looked twice as mad as she was. Oh, well, its nothing new. She's always so uptight. But yeah…

Me. Hmm, what else is there? There is this girl in Ravenclaw; she's in fifth year, too. She's REAL pretty. And she's not uptight like the rest of them Ravenclaws. She's got spunk. I have class with her in Herbology. Sometimes, I get to sit with her. She's cool. I'm thinking about asking her out. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm unpredictable raises eyes suggestively. Nah, just kidding.

The full moon is in two weeks. I suggested we go to the clearing we found to see if it is clear enough to make a fort or something. They all agreed. I can't wait. Plus, out there in the forest, who knows what kinda stuff we'll see.

Yeah, well, I might as well end this entry. I have nothing else to say and if someone catches me with this thing, I swear I will burn it into ashes and bury then at the center of the earth.

The very ashamed,

The two of you sat in silence for the next few minutes. They both had something on their mind. Harry, missing his godfather even more, was becoming more and more determined to go out to the shack in the forest. He knew there had to be something that could help him relate to his father and Sirius in there. He almost felt like going right then, but he knew that Charlie wouldn't let him, even though she was the reckless one. He did hope, though, that they could hurry up with the prepping for it. He was growing restless.

Charlie was thinking about how small the world really was. It was terribly coincidental that within months of getting the journal, she would meet half the people that could relate to the mentioned subjects. Harry was James' son, he knew Remus, and Tonks was around there somewhere. She felt more at home here than she had in the United States. It was amazing what having a newfound family felt like, she just wished Sirius were here.

"Do you want to read some more?" she attentively asked Harry. She didn't want to upset him but she felt the silence becoming more oppressing.

"Yeah, sure, that is, if you want to?" Harry replied, stumbling a bit.

"Yeah, let's read some more." She turned the page of little sketches Sirius had done. The next page was a bit longer.

Dear Journal,

How's it going? Ah, you wouldn't know, you're a journal. That's what's good about you, you can't talk so you won't nag me or rant on about the so-called "perfect' girl that I sometimes have to deal with. Yep, James is at it again. He doesn't even realize that I'm not listening to him. I just smile, smirk, and nod a bit and he's off again. I can understand to like a person and occasionally admire them to your friends, but when one can include in his schedule to "listen" to said person raving on and on, that's pretty bad. Oh well, I can write to you through the whole thing without him being any the wiser. The lovesick puppy shakes head disappointedly.

Any ways, in two days we're going to the clearing. Moony still pretending he won't let us, but we know better. James has this crazy Idea that we could burrow a whole from beneath it into the Hogwarts grounds. He just doesn't get it sometimes, I'm afraid to say. And where will he get his time? Moony will refuse point-blank because it involves something illegal within the school policy, or something. Peter, well, he won't be of much help. And I, in my free time, do not plan on becoming all dirty and muddy for the sake of convenience. I mean, isn't it part of the thrill for it to be harder to avoid capture. What are we becoming! Ahh, we're becoming adults! I blame James, with all his "do goody-ness" to catch Lily. Of course, Moony always was half adult, for good reason. And Peter, well, he's having a bit of trouble. God, James said something to me the other day that totally blew off guard. He said, "I think, when we are older, that we should make our children honorary Marauders." Ahhh, he's condemning us to a life after Hogwarts. This whole thing is messed up.

It kinda worries me though. I don't really have anything planned for after school. I was kinda winging it here, so what am I gonna do when they kick me out! I was thinking; I don't want to be in the ministry, cause they are all a bunch of stiffs, and I was thinking they same way for being a teacher. I can't play quidditch all that well. But I think I've come up with something. I know you're gonna do a double take, but I think I might do well as a bartender or pub owner. Yeah, yeah, I know I have no experience for business, but I have great people skills don't you think? I 'd be likeable, enough. Well, I still have some time to think.

You'll never guess what our password for the map is: I solemnly swear I am up to no good. It just works, doesn't it? Perfect for us Marauders. Oh, and to wipe it, we say: Mischief Managed. Nobody would ever guess. Moony says he's gonna charm it so if someone tries to break the charm, the map will start giving insults out. The best part is, we get to say what we want, per say. See, if someone, say Snivellus, tried to read it, I could, under the alias of Monsieur Padfoot, could call him, say, a snot-nosed git who has really really greasy hair, and he wouldn't know! Never, ever, have I said that Moony wasn't brilliant.

Yeah, well, I foresee the end of James' ranting so I don't want to be caught with this so I've got to hide it quick. Adios!

Yours truly,

Again, they sat in silence. They mulled over what they had read in their heads. Charlie closed the book and set it down next to Harry on the sofa. She got up and went over to the table where she asked the room to provide a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. She picked out a pink one and bit down, chewing slowly while thinking. Harry still sat there looking over the pages. He looked up abruptly at Charlie.

"I'm gonna go okay, I gotta work on an essay." He jumped up and opened the door. He walked out after taking a last look at Charlie and the journal.

She knew what was making him upset. That part about making him an honorary Marauder. She wouldn't lie to herself; she wanted to be a Marauder, though probably not as much as Harry.

She traced the cover with the tip of her finger, wondering if Sirius had done the same thing once. The letters were etched and outlined by the many marking of a quill into the leather:

Property of Sirius Black

Year 6

Read it and die

She flipped through the pages, stopping to look at the occasional sketch. She looked for a half an hour, but then replaced it in her book bag for later reading with Harry. She was looking forward to the next part; they were guaranteed a description of the clearing in the forest. She also was nervous to see if anything should happen on Moony's transformation. She didn't care if it had already happened, it would ease her to know.

Charlie didn't dare to read without Harry though. He would probably be very angry to think she had neglected him, and she didn't want that. On the subject of Harry though, she was still flabbergasted by what was going on. Surely he was not doing…well…what he was simply for the kicks, he was not like that. Perhaps it was a dare from one of the dorm guys. Who knew what they did up there in their free time, not that she cared to think about it.

She didn't know how much longer she could simply dismiss what he was doing, though. She had her limits on her curiosity.

Harry strode out of the room at a fairly fast pace. He felt like he was cornered in there, feeling that if she asked him any kind of question, he was obliged to answer, which was not what he wanted to do. So he fled. Yes, it was cowardly, but sometimes solitude helped him. He tried to remain calm as he walked out towards the lake, even though he was freezing. Mid-December did not work well without a coat, which, in his haste, he had forgotten to retrieve from the common room. Yet he plowed on, desperate to get away. Taking his spot near the lake, under the beech tree, he sat and stared out at the lake.

That was where Charlie saw him from her window, as she was getting ready for bed. She knew he had not brought a coat out with him so she got out her wand. She summoned his coat through the open door and carried it to the window. She cast the levitating charm on it and sent it out to him. He was a teensy bit surprised when a hovering coat came and lay down beside him, but he looked up at the castle and discovered its source.

Charlie gave him a small wave from the window, knowing he had seen her. He replaced the window back in its position so as to not allow the room to become too cold. She climbed into the bed right next to the window, which happened to be hers, and turned out the light. She sat still for a moment, thinking about what had happened that day, and finally dove beneath the covers to get some sleep.

Outside, Harry smiled at Charlie's kindness. Only she would think to send a coat out to him, and he appreciated it immensely. He smiled out upon the lake and thought long and hard about a more benevolent topic: Charlie.

He was glad to have found a friend in her. She could make him laugh, and seemed to make it her life-long mission to do so. Not that he was sour though. Distractions by her were his favorite.

He stayed out for another hour before stuffing his wand back in his pocket and standing up. He took a long look up at Charlie's window and gave it a small wave and smile. Then, he set out, back to the castle doors, and to the tower.


End file.
